NHL: Carolina's postseason hopes end
{{date|April 5, 2007}}

[[Image:Carolina Hurricanes (2006StanleyCupChampions) at WhiteHouse, 2007Feb02.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The Carolina Hurricanes were elimanated from the Playoffs, Tuesday night, ending their chances to repeat as champions.]]

The Carolina Hurricanes, the current holders of the Stanley Cup, will not be in the NHL Playoffs to defend their title. With Carolina losing 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night, and the Montreal Canadians defeating the Boston Bruins to hold onto their spot in the postseason, the Hurricanes found themselves on the outside looking in.

The Edmonton Oilers, champions of the Western Conference last season, were elimanated from playoff contention several weeks ago, but only two teams, the 1970 Montreal Canadiens and 1995 New Jersey Devils, have won the Stanley Cup, and miss the playoffs entirely the next season. This marks the first time both teams previously in the Stanley Cup Finals totally miss the playoffs the following year.

Hurricanes center Eric Staal said: "The year went by so fast, it just felt like we were right in the mix and all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, we're out."

== NHL Eastern Conference Playoff Race ==
{| border=1 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 style="margin: 1em 1em ; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; width:98%; border-bottom: none;" align=center
!colspan="7" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; border-collapse: collapse; border-top: none;"|<center>Eastern Conference</center>
|- style="background: #e9e9e9"   
! No !! Team !! Points !! Notes
|- 
|1 || '''Buffalo Sabres''' || 109 || Clinched Conference
|-
|2 || '''New Jersey Devils''' || 104 || Clinched Playoff Berth
|-
|3 || '''Atlanta Thrashers''' || 93 || Clinched Playoff Berth
|-
|4 || '''Ottawa Senators''' || 103 || Clinched Playoff Berth 
|-
|5 || '''Pittsburgh Penguins''' || 101 || Clinched Playoff Berth
|-
|6 || '''Tampa Bay Lightning''' || 92 || 
|-
|7 || '''New York Rangers''' || 92 || 
|-
|8 || '''Montreal Canadiens''' || 90 ||
|-
|9 || Toronto Maple Leafs || 89 ||
|-
|10 || New York Islanders || 86 ||
|-
|11 || Carolina Hurricanes || 86 || Elimated From Playoffs
|-
|12 || Florida Panthers || 83 || Elimated From Playoffs
|-
|13 || Boston Bruins || 76 || Elimated From Playoffs
|-
|14 || Washington Capitals || 70 || Elimated From Playoffs
|-
|15 || Philadelphia Flyers || 46 || Elimated From Playoffs
|-
|   || '''Bold denotes currently in playoff position''' || ||
|-
|}

== Sources ==

*{{source|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/796/story/561020.html
|title=After lifting Cup, Canes fall hard
|author=Luke DeCock
|pub=The News & Observer
|date=Apr 05, 2007}}

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[[Category:National Hockey League]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Ice hockey]]
The Carolina Hurricanes were elimanated from the Playoffs, Tuesday night, ending their chances to repeat as champions.

The Carolina Hurricanes, the current holders of the Stanley Cup, will not be in the NHL Playoffs to defend their title. With Carolina losing 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night, and the Montreal Canadians defeating the Boston Bruins to hold onto their spot in the postseason, the Hurricanes found themselves on the outside looking in.

The Edmonton Oilers, champions of the Western Conference last season, were elimanated from playoff contention several weeks ago, but only two teams, the 1970 Montreal Canadiens and 1995 New Jersey Devils, have won the Stanley Cup, and miss the playoffs entirely the next season. This marks the first time both teams previously in the Stanley Cup Finals totally miss the playoffs the following year.

Hurricanes center Eric Staal said: "The year went by so fast, it just felt like we were right in the mix and all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, we're out."
National Hockey League United States Ice hockey